Messages from a Fortune Cookie
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Tonight my wife and I found ourselves childless. It was not planned, so we had not planned anything in particular. However we very quickly took advantage of the situation and went out to dinner. We went to one of our favourite restaurants, the China Tea House in Wanniassa, the service is great and the food is good. Most importantly it was great to be able to spend some one on one time with my wife.
At the end of the meal they bought out the fortune cookies and I quickly grabbed one. The message in my cookie was:
“Good Judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment”
I was thinking that it this is a great statement. Too often we look at mistakes and bad judgement as a negative, however these are really a positive, as long as we learn from it. Now if the same mistake is made over and over then there is an issue to be dealt with. However an unforseen misjudgement that we learn from is a good thing.
This message also reminds me of another saying “We learn best from mistakes, however it is less painful to learn from other people’s mistakes than your own”. I agree that we learn best from mistakes. In fact I work and have worked in many organisations that have systems and processes in place to capture information about mistakes and lessons learnt for the future. In summary here are a few questions to ask yourself:
Do you beat yourself up when you make a mistake?
Do you learn from mistakes you make?
Do you learn from other people’s mistakes?
What ways to learn from mistakes?
Posted on Friday, 04 Jan 2013, in Business, Family, Personal and tagged Business, Entrepreneurship, Experience. Lesson, Judgement, Leadership, Lessons Learnt, Management, Mistakes, Quotes. Bookmark the permalink. 43 Comments.
That’s a quality fortune cookie right there – and poignant too. I make the effort to learn from my (and other people’s) mistakes when I can. But sometimes, it is necessary to make your own in order to fully grasp the understanding that arises out of it. And sometimes, the mistakes we think we made turn out not to be mistakes at all; but a means of forcing you down another path that you were resisting.
I love the what we get forced down a path that we are resisting….. That is me so often.
I always hope others eg my children, will learn from my mistakes.
I think we all hope that our children learn from our mistakes….. Sometimes though they will have to learnt form their own mistakes
I often imagine some chap sitting in a factory somewhere making all these fortune cookie lines up. This one makes absolute sense. Good for your Mr. Fortune Cookie Writer, wherever you are!!!
Very true… great message
Good lesson for us today. My husband and I work hard to learn from our mistakes, but we do often beat ourselves up a bit too much when we make them. Thank you for the reminder that learning the lessons is as important as letting the mistakes go.
Thank you for your comment…. We can often beat ourselves up more than we should….
I have learned to laugh at my mistakes and eventually accept it and learn from it. It’s the best way for me to live. I used to freak out over mistakes I made. It made me worse. It made me not so fun to be with. Now, I know when to let go and when to actually pick up the lessons.
That is a great way to look at mistakes…. I like the bit about letting go and picking up lessons… Thank you for sharing
Not only do I try to learn from others mistakes, but when something goes wrong in my life I search for the lesson that was meant for me to learn, because you know their is always one!
That is such a great attitude and approach. It is turning lemons into lemonade. You are an inspiration.
Ah, Lizzy, you know what Master Yoda says about trying something? “Do or do not. There is no try.” I also like Samuel Beckett, mind you. He said, “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Do we learn from our mistakes? Sometimes. Do we learn from mistakes of other people? I wish
. Happy New Year!
Svetlana
I agree with you that many people do not learn from either their mistakes or others. However those of us that do will progress society…. Have a great 2013…..
Life is constant learning opportunity for me. Ha! That would be a good fortune cookie line, wouldn’t it?
For New Year’s Eve a couple of days ago, I made some fortune cookies. With pieces of paper with clever lines, too! Sadly the recipe wasn’t good. I was unable to give the cookies the typical fortune cookie shape. I was lucky enough to fold them up once or roll them a bit one direction. I learned my lesson: next time new recipe. Even with my sister’s help, who is very experienced with cooking and baking, we were unable to get it right. So it wasn’t my fault. It worked the first time I did it, but I had used another recipe from the internet the first time.
Sounds like you went out and explored different options to find a better way…. That is great, If only more people did so in life…
2012 was filled with mistakes. time to move forward, which is sometimes hard with a heavy load.
Yes mistakes can create a burden into the future, however we can choose to learn form them and help us to be better…. I wish you a better 2013
Thank you Attila…i have one fortune cookie fortune that i’ve always kept in my wallet: “someday, you will be an accomplished writer”….i’ve published two books of beat poetry so far!
That is a great start for an accomplished writer….
I agree with you Attila, mistakes are great learning tools.
Very much so Tina
what a wonderful break you two received and enjoyed
It is nice to get some one on one time with your partner…. We treasure it.
so glad u did
It sure is a whole lot easier to look back and say I had bad judgement after the fact, as opposed to when I am experiencing the results of bad judgement.
Very true…. Hindsight is always easier…. However we need to remember that we go through the “bad day” to get to the hindsight….
A prerequisite requirement of learning from our mistakes is that we have the self awareness to recognize the mistake as of our own making. Without that awareness there is a tendency to assign the reason for the mistake to some external source, like someone else.
Very true Ian, I have seen, like you most likely have, people that blame others for their problems and issues. These people will not learn from the mistakes and will continue to make the same mistake again and again…. For a lesson to be learnt, one has to take responsibility for the situation….
I do get on myself for making mistakes. I have learned more from mistakes and in some cases actually was glad I made them.
I know the feeling…. At the time I can take mistakes hard, however I soon learn that making the mistake was a really good thing in terms of lessons learnt
I beat myself up for about a minute and then I learn from the error of my ways and move on. Otherwise I would be crazier than I already am.
Lol…. Crazy is good…
Oh yes, I have been known to beat myself hard for mistakes. Certainly have learned from them too. Certainly learned from others’ mistakes too. Glad you found some one-on-one time.
We all can beat ourselves up at times…. Glad to hear that you learn from the mistakes though
Good blog. Individuals should learn from their mistakes. Knowing history is also important to avoid mistakes.
Thank you for your comments…..
I hope we don’t need a fortune cookie to help us with that concept… great that you and your wife had a lovely evening together!!!!
Sometime inspiration comes form the most unlikely places….
LEARNING FROM MISTAKES ON THE PART OF THE SELF OR THE OTHERS IS MOST MEANINGFUL AN ART WHICH, IF EXERCISED IN AN HONEST SPIRIT, ELICITS A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE.
Very true words….. If only everyone could be so open to learn from their mistakes
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